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Organ donors are ordinary people who make an extraordinary impact. Each day I’m personally reminded of how one decision can change a life. My life was saved because of my donor, who made my double-lung transplant possible five years ago. Each breath I take reminds me of the…

That which is visible can more easily be defined than that which is not. Of course, while the contents of a book can be different from its cover, readers can usually gain a sense of what the book might be about just by looking it. The same cannot be said…

It’s Friday, and after a long morning of stressful clinic calls that included coordinating appointments, negotiating a telehealth option amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and asking for and hoping a prior authorization drops on my Trikafta (elexacaftor, tezacaftor, and ivacaftor) before I need the refill, I decide I deserve a…

Every morning, my grandfather used to run for the train he’d take to work. His job was in the boiler room of the American Museum of Natural History and adjacent Hayden Planetarium, making sure temperatures within the exhibits were perfect. Not bad for a guy with…

When I was pregnant, we learned that our unborn baby likely had cystic fibrosis (CF). I immediately fell into a deep depression. I didn’t talk to friends and family. I felt like no one could possibly understand what I was going through. I became agoraphobic, only leaving my house…

Due to cystic fibrosis, I’ve been steadfastly focused on my health my entire life. There hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t thinking about my health. As such, I’m constantly assessing how my surroundings will affect my health, conducting continuous health maintenance, and ensuring all of the elements of…

I don’t find routine to be rewarding. At most, it’s a threat. It’s something predictable that my brain and housemates expect me to do, and if I don’t, we’re all disappointed. Routine wants me to be structured and consistent, but my brain has different plans. For the most…

Fear often triggers one’s fight-or flight instincts. Depending on the circumstances, when it happens to me, I’ll either persevere through an unwanted situation or become paralyzed by fear. When I become frozen, I don’t want to do anything, and I let the fear caused by the situation just flush…

The rain comes down hard. From my bed I can hear the wind stirring up leaves with its warm air and white noise. Even though it’s morning, it’s not bright. The Omnipod on my arm, my insulin delivery system, beeps its loud and obnoxious tone, letting me know it…

To become a National Baseball Hall of Fame member, you only have to be successful roughly 25–30% of the time you’re in the batter’s box. Using the word “only” may seem like I’m slagging on people like Willie Mays, who had a batting average of .301;…